


Father And Son

by CloudXMK



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Bittersweet Ending, CLIFF AND SAM DESERVES BETTER, Cliff is Dead, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Grandfather!Cliff, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21568612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudXMK/pseuds/CloudXMK
Summary: So this is not part of the series I'm working on now but a separate piece and takes place after the events of the game. I just... I just need Louise to see her grandfather and Sam to see his father. I will twist things around and write alternate universes if I have to BECAUSE CLIFF AND SAM DESERVE BETTER ALONG WITH LOUISE.Hope you enjoy this lmao.
Relationships: BB-28 | Louise & Clifford Unger, Sam Porter Bridges & Clifford Unger
Comments: 12
Kudos: 182





	Father And Son

**Author's Note:**

> So this is not part of the series I'm working on now but a separate piece and takes place after the events of the game. I just... I just need Louise to see her grandfather and Sam to see his father. I will twist things around and write alternate universes if I have to BECAUSE CLIFF AND SAM DESERVE BETTER ALONG WITH LOUISE. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this lmao.

It had been on his mind for some time. Ever since he met his father and watching him getting gunned down by Bridget, Sam just wanted to know more of him. Wanted to ask him about his life and his mother’s. Wanted to know why he did what he did. But the man was dead and had moved on. He had given him closure.

Yet as he looked down at the dogtags that Cliff had given him, Sam wondered. Is it still possible to go visit the man at his Beach? After all, Deadman and the others were able to get him back from the Beach thanks to the gun that bound his father to Die-Hardman and Bridget.

He hadn’t tested out if he was a repatriate yet ever since Amelie closed off her Beach from theirs. But the presence of people still with DOOMS gave him a hunch that perhaps he still was. Perhaps he could still reach Clifford’s Beach and with the micanga that Fragile gave him, she could take him out. He figured that Cliff would also want to see Louise considering their last and final interaction in that thick jungle so he decided to take her as well. Picking her up from the crib that he had fabricated for her, he cradles her close to his chest smiling when she giggled. 

Using his cufflink, he then contacts Fragile to come and meet him in his Private Room. When she did arrive, he then tells her of his plan to attempt to reach Cliff’s Beach.

“It could work. So long as I have the micanga you gave me, you can find me and Louise.”

“But what if things come to the worst?”

“I don’t believe that. I know you can get me out.”

Fragile seemed to hesitate a bit. It was too risky. But Sam was insistent. “Please, Fragile. This would be my chance to finally get to know my father.” He pleads with her. A chance to know why he did what he did as the guilt he had pushed down started to bubble out. The guilt that he inadvertently caused his father’s death along with his mother’s. It was irrational he knew that. But he felt somewhat responsible for what Bridget or Amelie had done. 

“…Alright. You know the drill.” Fragile says, opening her umbrella and holding it over them. Cradling Lou close to his chest, he then steps underneath the umbrella.

Letting Fragile grab his free hand and press her forehead against his, Fragile then starts, “You want answers. You want to know your father more. You. Want. Answers.” Sam reached out desperately trying to find the man’s Beach and then, he saw it.

“There!”

In a flash, he was gone and Sam found himself on the Beach. No longer was it the battlefields that he had landed in but rather a calm Beach just like Amelie’s. Looking around, he searches for the silver-haired man when he saw him sitting close to the waters.

Approaching the man slowly, Sam was about to greet him when the man spoke, “Hello Sam. I sensed your presence when you appeared here. I never thought that you would actually try to come here.” Cliff said, turning then to look at his son with a kind smile on his face.

“I… I didn’t think of it either.” Sam told Cliff.

Cliff’s gaze then wandered down to the baby in his son’s arms and his eyes seemed to light up with joy. “Ah, you’ve brought Lou.”

“Um, my mistake. Turns out Lou is Louise.” Sam chuckled.

Cliff laughed as well. It was so strange seeing the man whom had initially hunted him down and so full of sorrow and grief now radiating with joy and just at peace. “That’s a perfect name for her. Louise.” Cliff beckons his son to join him and Sam did so, sitting right beside the other man. “If you are fine with it Sam, may I hold her?” The man then asks.

“Oh y-yeah. Yeah sure.” He replies, handing Louise over to Cliff. Carefully and gently, Cliff takes Louise into his arms and cradles him against his chest playing with her and making her giggle. A big grin grew on the older man’s face as the child in his arms brightened up seeing the silver-haired man and started to babble happily.

“I used to remember when I held you that fateful night. Even though it wasn’t in the… best circumstances.” He said, holding his other hand over the baby as he held her with one arm, letting her grip his finger.

“I… know. I… saw it all. I remembered what you told me too.”

Looking back at his son as he started to rock Louise, Cliff nods. “I’m glad that you managed to be free, Sam. That was all I wanted for you.”

“…You died… for me.”

“Yes.”

Sam could feel the burn behind his eyes as tears threatened to break free. Despite still loving Amelie and understanding why she did what she did, he couldn’t forgive her nor Bridget or whomever it is they are for what they did. Many nights it kept him awake, making him wonder if he hadn’t been born perhaps his father and mother would be fine. That the Death Stranding wouldn’t have sped up thanks to Amelie bringing him back and destroying the barrier between the world of the living and the dead.

“Do you ever regret it?”

“Regret sacrificing myself for you?”

Sam nods, unable to speak as his throat tightened from the deep sorrow wallowing up inside him.

Cliff shook his head. “Never. I never regretted it. I would die a million deaths for you because you’re my son, Sam.”

Pulling his hand away from Louise, he reaches over to his son then stilled. “I know of your fear. They told me. Is it alright if I hug you, son?”

Sam looks up and nods. He didn’t know who is this ‘they’ that his father refers to. He only knew that since their last battle and in that flashback to the past, his father mentioned them. He could always ask about them later however.

Pulling his son into a one-armed hug, Cliff lets Sam settle his chin on his shoulder. “Your mother and I never regretted having you and I never regretted giving my life for you so long as you’re able to live your life freely.”

A few tears escaped and rolled down Sam’s eyes. Although his fear still lingered in the back of his head, he brought his hands up and gripped his father’s suit trembling slightly. “I want to know about you and Mom.” He murmurs. Even with Bridget, he never called her Mom. They were just too distant. He had simply called her Ma. But for a woman whom he would never get the chance to meet, it just felt right calling her Mom. 

“Of course. I would be happy to tell you about us.” Pulling back then, Cliff then returns to rocking Louise in his arms once more. “So, where do you want to start?”

Clearing his throat, Sam then starts with a soft smile, “How did you and Mom meet?” He asks.

Cliff laughs boisterous and loud. “Now that is one helluva story.” 

And they sat there, father and son reunited, and a granddaughter albeit not of the same blood in a grandfather’s arms babbling away without a care in the world.


End file.
